Vir Calder
Vir Calder was a highly decorated Navy commander who began his military service during the resign of Emperor Piett as a starfighter pilot. Recognized as a promising officer, he was whisked away to command a task force of freighters then was given command of a frigate. He was then named a naval liaison officer to Imperial Research Development (IRD). When the directorship of IRD became available, Emperor Connel personally promoted Calder to the rank of vice admiral, jumping several grades, and put him in that position. Emperor Charon pushed him into the political realm by naming him the military governor of Fakir Sector, which was the sector encompassing IRD headquarters. Calder's work with IRD was highly classified, often with Emperor Charon being the only other person with any knowledge. Rumors had Calder working on projects border lining the occult, but the extreme secrecy surrounding IRD meant none of these theories could be proven. When Emperor Charon stepped down, Calder submitted his letter of resignation to allow the incoming Emperor, Greyson Uebles, full freedom to appoint a new candidate for this High Command position, but the new Emperor chose to retain him. The subsequent days were filled with meetings with the new Emperor and the Emperor's personal advisors, with Calder never having departed from the Emperor's Palace on Coruscant. Calder's career came to an abrupt end shortly after the Coruscant meetings. Immediately upon setting his foot in IRD headquarters, his aides who had traveled with him from Coruscant reported that his demeanors suddenly changed, becoming frazzled and demanding. He ordered a shuttle to be prepared for him, without a crew. Calder personally piloted the shuttle to the Imperial Star Destroyer Shadowstone orbiting above Berchest, where a private droid army (later found to be funded by the Falleen Federation) had just wrested control of the ship from Imperial personnel. Calder was never seen again. When Falleen Federation intelligence officers studied the vast amounts of recorded video from surviving battle droids, Calder was only seen twice, both prior to the Battle of Beta. In a corridor off of the docking bay, he walked straight toward the droid which had recorded the video, nearly walking into it as if he did not realize the droid was there. As the droid stepped aside, it recorded an impossible glow of red in Calder's eyes. The study into the droid's logs failed to conclude why the droid yielded to Calder, rather than stopping and interrogating him. Then, another droid patrolling the ship recorded Calder, again with the inhuman red glow, mumbling to himself while closing the hatch of an escape pod just as the ship exited hyperspace in Falleen space. This second droid raised his blaster rifle at the closing hatch, but it would find the blaster mysteriously bent, thus failing to fire. The Empire assumed Calder played a leading role in the loss of Shadowstone. Imperial courts tried him in absentia and found him guilty of mutiny. A large bounty was placed for his capture, but the bounty was ultimately recalled after Imperial Intelligence failed to acquire any hint of his whereabouts.